. The narratives of the
infancy and the Resurrection are independent, and are so different that
they point both to the fact that the two evangelists were here
employing different sources, and that each was unacquainted with the
Gospel written by the other. Also, St. Luke's account of our Lord's
ministry in Peraea and elsewhere, contained in ix. 51-xix. 28, is
peculiar to his Gospel.

[Sidenote: The relation of St. John's Gospel to the Synoptic Gospels.]

The difference between the theological tone of St. John's Gospel and
that which we find in the Synoptists is mentioned {27} in our account
of the separate Gospels. Besides this difference of tone, there is a
decided difference in the march of the events which are recorded and
some difference in the narrative of passages which are parallel. The
first rough impression which we gather from the Synoptists is that our
Lord did not visit Jerusalem until shortly before the Crucifixion.
Matthew and Mark refer to one Passover only for which Jesus comes to
Jerusalem. The scene of His ministry is Galilee. On the other hand,
the centre of interest in John is not Galilee, but Jerusalem and
Judaea. But a minute examination proves that the narrative of St. John
fits that of the Synoptists in a remarkable manner. In the first
place, the Synoptists give us hints of our Lord's earlier visits to
Judaea and Jerusalem. In Luke iv. 44 (see margin R.V.) we find Him
preaching in the synagogues of Judaea (cf. Acts x. 37). In Luke v. 17
the presence in Galilee of Pharisees from _Jerusalem_ is a testimony to
the impression which Christ had produced in the holy city. Both Matt.
(xxiii. 37) and Luke (xiii. 34) record the lament of our Lord, "O
_Jerusalem_, . . . how _often_ would I," etc. So from John iv. 3, 43
we learn of our Lord returning to _Galilee_ after His first visit to
Jerusalem. This second journey into Galilee recorded by St. John
brings us to a point corresponding with the early days of the ministry
in Galilee described by the Synoptists. In John vi.-vii. 9 we have
narratives connected with _Galilee_, and this section belongs to an
interval of time between the approach of Passover in March A.D. 28 and
the feast of Tabernacles in September A.D. 28. Of this period the
Synoptists give a much fuller account.

The question of the length of our Lord's ministry is thus intimately
connected with that of the scene of His ministry. St. John marks the
length of our Lord's minis